Yana Pitner

From Daily Planet Staff Reports

The good, the bad and the ugly of recent Russian relations with nearby countries was reviewed in detail by Dr. Yana Pitner on Feb. 1 at UNC Asheville’s Owen Conference Center.

Pitner’s talk, titled “Russia and Its Neighbors,” was sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina. About  40 people attended on a snowy, icy night.

Pitner, a Russian native who moved to the United States about six years ago, has served as an adjunct professor of history at UNCA since 2007. Her specialty is Russian and European history.

She began her talk by citing a famous quotation, “The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia” by Otto von Bismarck.